Better conversion rates are obviously good for your business, but how can you improve your eCommerce site so that visitors become customers? If you’re like the vast majority of business owners, you’ve probably spent the bulk of your online marketing budget on attracting visitors to your site but little on conversion improvement. Unfortunately, even the best SEO campaign is essentially a failure if your visitors do not become customers. Let’s look at some web design tips for eCommerce websites.

Simplicity

Simplicity of eCommerce design

One of the key elements of effective marketing is simplicity. You want your message to be easy to digest and focused, and the same is true for your eCommerce site. Avoid clutter and dense content and aim for a clean site that immediately points customers to your product or service.

More Media

A picture is worth a thousand words and a video a few thousand more. While you don’t want to compromise a well-organized and simple website, you should look to incorporate different media formats to attract customers. Videos and photos are a great addition to any eCommerce website design.

Promotions on the Homepage

Customers are looking for discounts, so you need to display your promotions prominently on your homepage. Indeed, a great deal can be a powerful motivator for potential customers, so don’t hide your promotions on secondary pages. Also, make your promotions obvious by playing with different fonts, colours, and media.

Easy Does It

Related products

This next tip cannot be overstated – your website must be easy and intuitive to navigate. If customers struggle to explore your site and find the info, product, or service they’re looking for, they’ll eventually get frustrated and turn to your competitors. Drop down menus and search tools are excellent additions to your eCommerce site as they allow customers to navigate between pages and back and forth easily.

Recommend your Products

Whether in your sitemap or in the footer of your webpage, you should consider including a recommended products section. Sometimes customers don’t know what they’re looking for, and sometimes their return visitors who want more information on what you offer. Making recommendations can be an easy way to generate conversions.

Keep Costs Obvious

Checkout screen

We may be looking at the price of products and services or the cost of shipping, either way you should endeavour to communicate clearly with your customers about your costs. Can you remember a time you searched in vain for shipping costs? How did that make you feel? Customers can easily be discouraged when there are hidden costs or they can’t find the pricing information they want. Similarly, if you offer “free shipping,” be sure to clarify what this does and doesn’t include.

Add to Cart and Checkout

Your “Add to Cart” button needs to be prominent and attractive, and your checkout page needs to function properly. Don’t lose conversions at the last stage of the game by having poorly designed or ineffective buttons and checkouts.